THE BREAKFAST BRIEFING

Friday at midnight the calendar turns to March. Normally that wouldn’t be such a big deal. But for many mutual-fund managers, the new month will give them a chance to gloat about one thing: their five-year performances.

“The last down month of the famous 2008-2009 market break was Feb. 2009, and as it falls out of the five-year calculation, well, you’re going to see some pretty tasty looking returns being reported,” says Daniel Wiener, chief executive at Adviser Investments in Newton, Mass.

The S&P 500 has surged 174% since the March 9, 2009 bottom, placing the rally’s magnitude and duration into the upper echelon of historic bull markets. Unprecedented stimulus from the Federal Reserve has been a primary driver of the market’s record-breaking rally amid a slowly recovering economy.

Now, investors are asking themselves how much longer will the rally continue, especially in an environment with the Fed scaling back its accommodation, the economy kicking off 2014 weaker than expected and stock valuations already sitting at pricier-than-average levels.

A look at historical data offer some potential answers.

The current bull market, spanning more than 1,800 calendar days, ranks as the sixth longest since 1928, according to Bespoke Investment Group. The 174% rally is the fourth biggest over the same time frame.

At first glance, the gains are eye-popping. But in relation to previous bull markets, they look more measured.

The strongest bull market took place from 1987 through 2000, when the S&P 500 rallied 582%. The second biggest was the 267% surge that occurred from 1949 through 1956. Rounding out the top three is the 1982-1987 bull market, when the S&P 500 jumped 228%.

In a chat with MoneyBeat, Charlie Massimo, CEO at CJM Wealth Management which has about $300 million in assets under management, said investor views of the rally are skewed depending on the time frame considered. The rally off the March 2009 bottom has been significant, but a longer time horizon tells a different story.

“I don’t know why people are so concerned or anxious about levels of the S&P 500,” he said, noting the market has averaged about a 2.5% annual gain since the year 2000, thanks to two bear markets over the past 14 years. The S&P 500 historically averages about an 8% gain a year. “If you look at it from that perspective, even if we just see a reversion to the mean, we have so much upside to this market,” he said.

The S&P 500 closed Thursday at 1854.29, its 47th record high over the past 12 months. It has risen about 6% in the past three weeks alone. As we have noted, new highs have spurred more buying repeatedly throughout the current rally.

With the bull market’s five-year anniversary around the corner, this bull looks like it still has some stamina left in the tank.

Morning MoneyBeat Daily Factoid: On this day in 1983, U2 released the album “War.” It was the group’s third studio album and drew some controversy for its political bent stemming from songs such as “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “New Year’s Day”.

UPDATE: The rally is currently the sixth longest bull market and fourth best performer since 1928. An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated where the current rally ranked in terms of historic bull markets, due to an error from Bespoke Investment Group.

STOCKS TO WATCH

After Thursday’s closing bell, Salesforce.com reported its fourth-quarter loss widened to $116.62 million, or 19 cents a share from a loss of $20.84 million, or 4 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $1.15 billion from $834.68 million. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 7 cents a share, ahead of the 6-cent forecast by analysts. Salesforce shares edged down 0.3% in after hours.

Gap said late Thursday that its fiscal fourth-quarter profit fell to $307 million, or 68 cents a share, from $351 million, or 73 cents, a year earlier. Sales dropped to $4.58 billion from $4.73 billion. Gap also forecast 2014 per-share profit of $2.90 to $2.95, in part due to foreign-exchange losses stemming from a stronger dollar. Analysts are expecting full-year profit of $3.02 a share. Shares of Gap slid 1.6% in after-hours trading.

On Friday, Liberty Media is projected to report fourth-quarter earnings of 56 cents a share, according to a consensus survey by FactSet, when it releases its quarterly results.

Third Point’s Loeb Ramps Up Fight Against Sotheby's: “Activist investor Daniel Loeb of Third Point LLC is ramping up his fight with Sotheby’s Inc., nominating himself and two others to the art auction house’s board of directors.”

Armed Men Occupy Two Airports in Ukraine’s Crimea:“Armed men occupied two key airports in Ukraine’s restive pro-Russia region of Crimea on Friday, a move that Ukraine’s interior minister called an ‘armed invasion and occupation’ by Russia, stirring already heightened tension in the country.”

Ukraine’s Currency Recovers:“Ukraine’s currency bounced back considerably Friday, lifted by news the country had reached out for international financial assistance.”

Chase for Private-Equity Talent Picks Up: “This week has been a great time to be a young gun on Wall Street. Some of the greenest bankers have been beneficiaries of a frantic race among private-equity firms eager to hire them.”

Gold Bugs Return After Last Year’s Rout: “Investors are buying gold again. Gold is up 11% this year, and wagers on rising prices are at a four-month high in the futures market. This month, investors were net buyers of SPDR Gold Shares, the biggest exchange-traded fund that buys gold, for the first time since December 2012.”

Madoff Staffer Testifies She Backdated Trades: “Annette Bongiorno, a longtime aide for Bernard L. Madoff, testified throughout the week that backdating trades was standard practice at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC and said Thursday she didn’t think there was anything wrong with that at the time.”

Quiznos Preparing for Bankruptcy: “Sandwich chain Quiznos is preparing to file for bankruptcy-court protection within weeks as it contends with unhappy franchisees and a $570 million debt load, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.”

Nude Webcams and Diet Drugs: the Facebook Ads Teens Aren’t Supposed to See: “Teens as young as 13 are sometimes shown Facebook ads inappropriate to their age, underscoring Facebook’s challenge in policing a social network with more than a billion users and a million advertisers.”